Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the level of financial support available for publicly-funded swimming pools.

The Government recognises that sports clubs and facilities are important to communities up and down the country. High-quality, inclusive facilities help people of all ages get active and provide vital facilities for children to learn to swim and about water safety. Everyone, no matter who they are or where they live, should have access to them and opportunities to participate in sport and physical activity.

The ongoing responsibility of providing access to public leisure swimming facilities lies at local authority level. We are committed to supporting Local Government, recognising the significant financial challenges faced by the sector and by ensuring that funding goes to the places that need it most through the Local Government Finance Settlement.

The Government encourages local authorities and local leaders to make investments which offer the right opportunities and facilities (including swimming pools) for the communities they serve, investing in sport and physical activity with a place-based approach, to meet the needs of individual communities. This is complemented by the support and guidance available through the Government’s Arm’s Length Body, Sport England.

Sport England tracks usage of swimming pools through Moving Communities to understand usage, including by children and by a user’s home postcode, to build an evidence base on usage in areas of higher deprivation.

Sport England are closely monitoring swimming pool stock through their Active Places tool. This evidence shows that since 2015 there has been a total of 291 swimming pool closures (on sites owned by Local Authorities), whilst there have been a total of 254 new swimming pools opened during this period.

We will continue to engage with a full range of stakeholders to explore how we can work towards securing a vibrant future for swimming pools, enabling them to continue delivering their full potential for public health, economic growth, and the wellbeing of our communities.

All future funding of sports facilities beyond 2025/26 will be considered following the Spending Review and the Government will set out further plans in due course.